The present invention relates to an armrest and a vehicle seat including the same, and is particularly related to a foldable armrest which is moveable between a raised position and a forward lowered position relative to a seat back and a vehicle seat including the same.
An armrest for a seat of a vehicle, for example an automobile, such as a foldable armrest 110 shown in FIG. 7, is known. This armrest 110 can be raised at the side of the seat back 120 when unused in order not to inhibit movement of passengers.
To move between the front and rear seating positions in a station wagon, passengers typically walk through an aisle between adjacent seats. However, when the aisle is narrow, the armrests obstruct the aisle and inhibit passengers' smooth walk-through.
In order to overcome this disadvantage, an armrest providing increased effective vehicle interior space by making an armrest storage compartment compact, is proposed (for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-314277 (page 7 and 8, FIGS. 2-4) (hereinafter, the '277 Patent)). While the armrest of the '277 Patent comfortably supports a passenger's arm in a used position, the armrest storage compartment becomes compact when the armrest is in an unused position, since the armrest can be folded toward the seat back and stowed upright at the side of the seat back. Therefore, the passengers' walk-through space between adjacent seats can be cleared when this type of armrest is used in a vehicle such as a station wagon.
According to the prior art disclosed in the '277 Patent, the armrest storage compartment becomes compact. However, this armrest requires a two-step operation of lowering the armrest to a horizontal position and rotating it before use. A need therefore exists to overcome this disadvantage.